The Triestini are brave people: they sunbathe from February to the last sunburst in November! And they love to enjoy life, tasting one of the 40 different coffee cups or venturing into the Karst for biking, trekking, climbing or just looking for the popular "osmizas", private houses where you can taste local food and wine (karstic prosciutto, cheese and of course wine).

I’ve seen many castles and fortresses on my travels, but none stick in my head like the fortified Old Town of Dubrovnik, Croatia. If I didn’t actually walk upon its marble streets and touch its historic stone wall for myself, I’d swear it was a modern recreation of another time.